Children, young people and families support directory

If it's an emergency, go to your nearest hospital with an Accident and Emergency (A&E) and ask to speak to the mental health liaison nurse. They can help you 24 hours a day.

Time for me is a group that helps people cope with distressing thoughts and feelings.

Parents with any emotional problems. This includes low mood, anxiety, stress, relationship difficulties, or difficulties managing strong emotions.

This service is for:

Any parent of a child aged 5 or under is welcome to join a Time for Me group. You need to live in Croydon, and be registered with a Croydon GP.

What Time for Me can do for you

The group helps you develop your coping skills by giving you the opportunity to:

• share what you are worried or upset about and clarify your thoughts and feelings about your situation
• talk through actions you have taken in response to your concerns, and what consequences there have been
• explore with you the thinking that led to your actions or responses.
• explore with you the positive and negative consequences of your actions or responses
• generate alternative responses or ways of coping with your thoughts and feelings about the situation
• develop and write a crisis and support plan (CASP) with suggestions of ways of coping with your situation
• return to a group at a later date and share the effectiveness of your written plan (CASP) and update it as needed
• understand what helped with your thoughts and feelings so that in the future you may approach a similar difficulty with more confidence and a range of skills so that you do not get so overwhelmed
• help other people in the group to go through the above steps so that you get to feel that you can be a helpful and supportive person with strengths and capabilities and to improve your sense of personal empowerment

Duration of a session

Each Time for Me group lasts for at most 2.5 hours, including two breaks.

Free crèche

We have a free crèche that is open from 9am so that you can settle your child in and feel confident that they are being well cared for whilst you join the group.

Crèche staff will talk to you about the needs and interests of your child., and provide activities that support their development and interests whilst you are in the group. Please speak to us if you have any questions or concerns about leaving your child in the crèche.

Out of hours

Call 0800 731 2864 to speak to the South London and Maudsley 24 hour mental health support line. Any local resident can call us. You do not have to be a patient. All calls are free.